Erin, Hannah, and I flew to Rapid City, South Dakota to join my parents on a week long vacation before the start of the school year. We made Keystone our home base for the week and hit many of the highlights of the Black Hills. My parents are South Dakota natives and graciously served as our tour guides.
On Monday, August 16, we arrived in Rapid City and went downtown for lunch at the Firehouse Brewery. The mural outside impressed me more than the lunch. We wandered around downtown a little bit and shopped next door at the amazing Prairie Edge. We also visited the stunning Chapel in the Hills and the somewhat hokey Cosmos before checking into the AirBnB in Keystone. After waking up at four o’clock in the morning for an early flight, Hannah and her parents were pumpkins by dinner time.
On Tuesday, we visited Crazy Horse, had lunch in Custer, and visited Sylvan Lake. We spent a long afternoon in the car driving the Needles Highway, the Custer State Park Wildlife Loop, and a portion of the Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway. The sights and roads were stunning, even with a smoke-filled sky.
Wednesday, we visited Mount Rushmore, the Art Alley in Rapid City, and the South Dakota Air and Space Museum before panning for gold in Keystone
My one request on this trip was that we take time to go visit Devil’s Tower in Wyoming. We spent a couple hours driving to NW Wyoming and arrived at the park a few minutes after the thunderstorm did. I managed one decent picture before we bugged out and headed back to South Dakota. Our route back home took us through the beautiful Spearfish Canyon.
We spent the day Friday visiting the Badlands and Wall Drug. Thankfully, the sky cooperated for some panoramic photography.
We had an amazing trip with my parents. I hope you enjoy the photos!